‘Stronger bilateral ties emerging amid fading multilateral treaties’
NEW DELHI : Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman backed the need for improved bilateral trade relations between India and Sri Lanka at a time when multilateral tie-ups were not working, and said that the country should look at opportunities for regional currency arrangements, food and energy security, in order to protect the country’s economy and prevent forex driven crisis. "Global multilateral treaties are now receding. It is not happening.
People are not wanting to talk about multilateral agreements. It might revive... All over the world, there is clear interest in having bilateral arrangements, arrangements in regional currencies, arrangements so that you can ensure there won't be any shocks because of currency volatilities, arrangements so that there are no foreign exchange-driven crises, arrangements that you are sure between the two countries that your food security is in place, your energy won't go through a roller coaster ride.
India and Sri Lanka should also benefit from such a bilateral arrangement," she said. The minister was speaking at the India-Sri Lanka Business Summit in Colombo, and noted that the increasing concern of the the widening impact of the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, and the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, on fuel prices, in the event of supplies getting disrupted. India has been pushing for settling trade in Indian Rupee, which it started with buying oil from Russia last year.
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